Mario Batali, Food & Wine Magazine: Help Get Rid Of The Ponytail

Mario Batali is getting rid of half of what's made him famous. No, we wish the Crayola-colored Crocs would go. Instead, the chef/restaurateur and host of our favorite show, The Chew, has agreed to lop off his ponytail -- if the price is right!

Apparently, the price is a cool half a mil, because that's what Food & Wine Magazine claims it's going to take to get Batali to undergo a pair of barber's shears.

Batali has joined forces with nine other formidable chefs to help raise

funds and awareness for their favorite charities through the magazine's

Chefs Make Change campaign.

Batali plans to raise $500,000 for his Mario Batali Foundation, which helps feed kids in need. Other chefs participating in Chefs Make Change include:

Laine Doss is the food and spirits editor for Miami New Times, covering the restaurant and bar scene in South Florida. She has been featured on Cooking Channel’s Eat Street and Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race. Doss won an Alternative Weekly award for her feature on what it’s like to wait tables. In a previous life, she appeared off-Broadway and shook many a cocktail as a bartender at venues in South Florida and New York City. When she’s not writing, you can find Doss running some marathon then celebrating at the nearest watering hole.